Magali Simard-Galdés

Canadian soprano Magali Simard-Galdés known for “effortlessly nailing each bright, leaping melody” is making critics hail that she is “certainly a voice to look out for in the years to come.” This season, Ms. Simard-Galdés made her U.S. début as Roxane in Cyrano with Opera Carolina. After her enormous success as Roxane, she has been invited back to Opera Carolina this spring where she will perform Gilda in Rigoletto in a co-production with Toledo Opera. Other engagements this season include the Flowermaiden in Parsifal at the Festival international de Lanaudière under Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Ève in Paradis Perdu at Atelier lyrique de Tourcoing under maestro Jean-Claude Malgoire.

In recent seasons, Magali made her professional début as Nicette in Le pré aux clercs with Wexford Festival Opera for which the London Times exclaimed that “the evening belonged to the young soprano Magali Simard-Galdès (Nicette) who made her professional début with brilliance.” Ms. Simard-Galdès also recently made her Opéra de Montréal début as Constance in Dialogue des carmélites and sang the soprano solo of Mozart’ s Mass in C minor at the Classica Festival.

Other recent engagements include the roles of Le Feu/Rossignol in L’Enfant et les sortilèges, Girl in Trouble in Tahiti, Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and the Thief, Lilette in Trois jeunes filles nues, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro and Venus in Orphée aux enfers. Magali was a Young Emerging Artist in the 2014 Concerts aux lles du Bic Chamber Music Festival as well as a part of the Lunchtime Recitals program of the Wexford Festival Opera in 2015. Additionally, Ms. Simard-Galdès was the recipient of the 2015 Maureen-Forrester Jeunesses Musicales Canada Award which granted her a Canadian tour of 30 recitals during the 2016-2017 season.

Three time first-prize winner of the Canadian Music Competition and regional finalist of the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, Ms. Simard-Galdès has also competed in European competitions such as the Hans Gabor Belvedere International Singing Competition in Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition in London. Ms. Simard-Galdès was also awarded the 2017 Choquette-Symcox Award by the Jeunesses musicales Canada Foundation, the 2016 Career Development Grant by Vancouver Opera Guild and the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for young Canadian opera singers in 2015 and 2017.

Magali Simard-Galdès graduated from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. She has studied with renowned teachers such as Aline Kutan, Gabrielle Lavigne, Éthel Guéret, Lena Hellström-Färnlöf and Diana Damrau. Magali has received guidance in masterclasses from world class singers such as Natalie Dessay, Markus Werba, Russell Braun, Thomas Quasthoff and Camilla Nylund.